Page:Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords, appointed to inquire into the present state of the Islands of New Zealand.pdf/68

 64 Would they be satisfied with a Law which should prevent their going to war without the Governor's Leave?
 * I do not think that they would be; but in New Holland the Natives go to war, but the Government never interferes with them; we think it very bad Policy to do so; but we let them, fight their own Battles. We have had occasional Conflicts near the Town; I think the Governors have generally thought it best to leave them alone. There are not many killed; they fight with their Waddas.

When they sell Land do they not generally either make it a Condition of Sale, or expect, as a matter of course, that they should have the working of the Land?
 * I am not aware.

Are the Harbours generally good on the Western Coast?
 * No; they are generally all Bar Harbours, in consequence of the Westerly Winds which prevail Nine Months out of the Year. Caffia Harbour is a Bar Harbour, about Sixteen Feet over the Bar.

In the Progress of Colonization a great deal of Wheat would be sent to Australia from New Zealand?
 * Yes, there is a great deal now shipped. I see from some of my Letters we had last Year several Thousand Bushels of Maize from Poverty Bay.

Is the Land good for Wheat?
 * Yes.

Would New South Wales take nearly all which could be furnished from New Zealand?
 * I think it would; we have imported a great deal from Calcutta.

Do you know whether the Settlers are increasing in the Island?
 * I think they are.

Does the Acquisition of Land go to a great Extent?
 * I think most of the Settlers who have gone there lately have been Traders; I do not think they have gone as Agriculturists.

You do not think the Acquisition of Land goes on in the same Proportion as the Facilities?
 * No, I think not.

You state that the Character of the Natives of the Southern Islands was different from that of the Natives in the Northern; that they are less intelligent?
 * I think they are; but perhaps that may arise from their Non-intercourse with Europeans.

Do you think they would be less capable of understanding the Nature of any Bargain they made for the Sale of their Lands?
 * I do not think they would understand the Thing so well as the People in the Northern Island, but they might be brought to understand it. They are not void of Intelligence, but they are by far an inferior Race, in Appearance and Intelligence, to the Men of the Northern Island. Those Men in the Northern Island are a light Yellow Copper Colour, fine tall Race of Men, very intelligent; those on the South Island are darker and shorter.

Are the Capabilities for a Colonization by Europeans as great as in the Northern Island?
 * The Northern Part of the Southern Island I should say is very good, but not the Southern Part of the Southern Island; I should think that was very bleak and cold, and not fit for settling; it is a very mountainous Country; a Range of Mountains runs through the whole Island.

The People are not apparently the same Race?
 * No.

Are they similar in their Habits?
 * Yes. Rh